Final Results
Iomart Group PLC
21 June 2007
IOMART GROUP PLC
('iomart' or the 'Company')
Final Results for the year ended 31 March 2007
iomart Group plc, the web-services and hosting company, is pleased to report its
preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2007.
Financial Highlights (accounts presented under IFRS convention)
• Turnover of £21.1m (2006: £18.0m), an increase of 16.9%
• Operating profit of £565,000 (2006: £140,000)
• Pretax profit of £218,000 (2006: loss £74,000)
• Profit after tax including deferred tax credit £2,180,000 (2006: £11,000)
Corporate Highlights
• Entry into the datacentre market through successful acquisition of
Easyspace Datacentres, funded by £11m placing
• Reduced cost of option to buy minority stake in Easyspace Datacentres
• Ufindus and Easyspace performing well
Angus MacSween, Chief Executive Officer commented, 'Our timely entry into the
datacentre market and the very encouraging response we have had so far to our
initial marketing reinforces our view that there is significant growth potential
which can be delivered in the medium term. We have generated substantial
interest, mainly from large enterprises interested in long term commitments
which should form the backbone of future sales revenues. Additionally our core
business continues to perform in line with expectations and we look forward to a
very rewarding year.'
For further information:
iomart Group plc Tel. 0141 931 6400
Angus MacSween, Chief Executive
Nick Kuenssberg, Non-executive Chairman
KBC Peel Hunt Tel. 020 7418 8900
Oliver Scott
Richard Kauffer
ICIS Tel. 020 7651 8688
Tom Moriarty
Caroline Evans-Jones
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
This has been a pivotal year in our development, particularly with the raising
of £11m through a share placement to acquire a controlling stake in significant
datacentre assets. The Group is now well positioned to take advantage of the
exciting market opportunities in colocation and complex hosting more easily
facilitated by the datacentre business. Boosted by the reduced cost of the
option to acquire the minority stake, this will deliver significant shareholder
returns in the medium term.
You will note that our figures are presented under the new IFRS convention,
introduced one year earlier than required; while the figures may look different,
your Group has performed generally in line with expectations. Sales revenue was
up 16.9% at £21,086,000 and profit before tax increased to £218,000 (2006 - loss
of £74,000). The effect of the deferred tax credit through the recovery of losses
increased profit after tax to £2,180,000 (2006 - £11,000). We have not
recommended a dividend.
The management team under Angus MacSween has successfully improved internal
systems and processes. Ufindus is increasingly self-sufficient, collection
methods are better, Easyspace is more robust and the welcome appointment of
Richard Logan as finance director has been effective.
Dominic Marrocco, the previous owner and managing director of the datacentre
business, resigned on 20 June 2007 with immediate effect, but we have a new
highly experienced team under the leadership of Sarah Haran driving the
integrated Easyspace and Easyspace Datacentres business.
On a personal note, having been chairman of your Group since the AIM flotation
in April 2000, I believe that it is appropriate that I plan to step down. We
have therefore commissioned a search firm to identify suitably experienced
candidates with a view to appointing a non-executive director who will take over
as chairman in due course.
The Group is now poised to deliver significant shareholder returns and I look
forward to the increasing value which Angus and his team will deliver.
Nick Kuenssberg
Chairman
20 June 2007
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW
Easyspace Datacentres Ltd
The highlight of 2006/7 has been our entry into the datacentre marketplace with
the successful placing and acquisition of a controlling interest in Easyspace
Datacentres (UK) Ltd (formerly Ezee DSL Limited). Since the acquisition we have
made good progress in making the datacentres operational and recruiting key
senior personnel. The reaction to our initial marketing of the London datacentre
has been very encouraging and we remain convinced that our strategic move into
the datacentre market at this stage of the cycle will provide additional growth
and profit for the Group.
I am also pleased to report that, as a result of 186k Ltd, the vendor, not
funding their share of the working capital requirement; iomart group will
acquire 100% of the equity for a maximum payment of £4.8m in 2 years time. Since
we had expected to pay up to £20m to acquire the 49%, based on the business plan
and formula in the purchase agreement we believe this represents significant
additional value for shareholders.
Having our own datacentre capacity allows us to reshape our strategy in the
hosting environment , building on our existing experience, to be able to deliver
the complete set of vertical components in the hosting arena from domain names,
virtual webspace, websites, dedicated servers through to complex managed hosting
solutions, colocation space, power, cooling and bandwidth.
As more and more mission critical business applications move on to the web, so
organisations need more resilience, security and 24 hour management; the market
for managed hosting services and datacentre capacity is expected to grow
significantly over the next few years. We will leverage the skills and
experience within Easyspace to provide a comprehensive set of services.
Easyspace
The existing Easyspace business continued to provide a solid platform of
revenue, cash generation and profit providing £1.9m of operating profit from
revenues of £6.6m. Whilst we have seen some downward pressure on pricing at the
very low end of the market, gross margins remain good at 60% and we are winning
higher margin business in the corporate hosting market where business continuity
is becoming ever more important.
Ufindus
The continuing shift from traditional media advertising and paper directory
services to internet driven services is, if anything, accelerating and our
online directory business UfindUs is benefiting from that with a growing number
of users generating 9 million searches and visits to customer websites per
month.
Despite the impact on revenues of the adoption of IFRS, explained in the Finance
Directors report and in the notes to the financial statements, we have seen
UfindUs revenues grow 30% from £10.9m to £14.1m providing an operating profit of
£1.5m. Gross margins have also improved. The business is in much better shape
operationally than was the case six months ago with well established and more
robust systems around billing and collections and over 75% of new customers
signing up to pay by direct debit.
UfindUs is gaining credibility in the search and directory market and, with a
number of initiatives ready to launch to improve the product, is set to provide
more and more business opportunities for our customers.
Netintelligence
Netintelligence is a highly developed leading edge product set in the 'Software
as a Service' arena. We have had a disappointing year with Netintelligence but
continue to develop the IPR to ensure that we remain competitive and can exploit
potential opportunities. The strategy is to use indirect channels to market and
we have taken steps to ensure our costs going forward are in line with our
revenues.
Results
Revenue increased in the year by 16.9% to £21,086,000 (2006 - £18,032,000)
principally due to the continued growth achieved by our internet directory
business Ufindus.
Encouragingly, our gross profits increased by 20% to £16,400,000 (2006 -
£13,671,000) meaning our gross margin percentage in the year of 78% was higher
than the 76% achieved in 2006. Again the main reason for this was the increase
in gross margin delivered by Ufindus due to the favourable impact of recurring
revenue from customers for which there is very little cost of sale to be
recognised.
Administrative expenses were 17% higher at £15,835,000 (2006 - £13,531,000). The
major reason for the increase is staff costs reflecting the additional personnel
we have employed to service our growing Ufindus business and also increased
sales resources for part of the year in both Ufindus and Netintelligence. In
addition, due to debt collection issues at Ufindus there has been an increased
level of bad debt expense charged in the current year.
Operating profit for the year of £565,000 was four times greater than that
achieved in 2006.
After financing costs, which have increased this year due to the additional debt
that we have serviced, pre-tax profits for the year were £218,000 compared to a
loss for last year of £74,000.
The deferred taxation credit of £1,962,000 is primarily due to the recognition
of a deferred tax asset in respect of tax losses relating to Ufindus which we
now expect to utilise against the future profits of that operation.
As a result our profit for the year from continuing operation is £2,180,000
compared to a profit in 2006 of £11,000. Basic earnings per share for the year
of 2.78p compared to 0.01p in 2006.
Cash
There was a cash inflow for the year of £245,000 from operating activities.
During the year the Group invested £464,000 in acquiring property plant and
equipment and £311,000 on developing and acquiring software. We also made
dividend payments of £1,284,000, bank loan repayments of £865,000, net interest
payments of £347,000, finance lease repayments of £109,000 and net corporation
tax of £18,000.
To fund this, after receiving proceeds of £43,000 from the issue of shares, the
Group increased its net bank overdraft by £3,111,000 over the year.
At the year end cash balances were £999,000 borrowings under finance leases
amounted to £373,000, bank loans totalled £1,308,000 and overdrafts totalled
£4,151,000 resulting in an overall net borrowings position of £4,833,000 which
has increased by £2,555,000 over the year. The cash position of the Group
changed significantly immediately after the year end with the receipt, net of
expenses, of £10,466,000 from the issue of shares to fund the acquisition a
majority stake in Ezee DSL Limited.
Acquisitions
On 30 March 2007 we acquired a controlling interest of 51% in Ezee DSL Limited
for £4,890,000 including certain costs of acquisition. This was funded by the
issue of 20 million shares which raised a total of £10,466,000 net of expenses
and we received these funds, which had been underwritten by KBC Peel Hunt, on 2
April. The book value of the Ezee DSL datacentre assets at the time of
acquisition was £8,870,000 and based on a report on the London datacentre,
commissioned immediately prior to acquisition, we would estimate the replacement
cost of such assets to be in the region of £28,000,000.
Financial Position
With funding raised through the share placement, the availability of our
committed overdraft facility and the anticipated cash generation from the
existing operations the Group's financial position is sufficient to fund our
current business plans. We believe we are now entering an important growth phase
in our continued development which will place demands on our cash resources
including the obligation to fully fund the Easyspace Datacentres (UK) operation
and we have not recommended a dividend be paid at this time. We will continue to
review this position and intend to be in a position to re-establish dividend
payments in future years.
International Financial Reporting Standards
Once the impact of the introduction of IFRS had been assessed we made the
decision to adopt IFRS as we felt in the circumstances it was the most
appropriate basis for the preparation of these accounts. Consequently IFRS has
been implemented one year ahead of our original plan and indeed one year ahead
of its mandatory adoption.
In note 8 there is an explanation of the impact of adopting IFRS on the Group's
results including the impact on prior years the results of which have been
restated and I would encourage you to review the details of that note to gain a
full understanding of the position.
The major impact has been in relation to the revenues of our internet directory
business Ufindus. Under UK GAAP we recognised Ufindus revenue at the time of
sale, on the basis that the service had been delivered and all significant
obligations of the sale fulfilled. Since the vast majority of our customers take
advantage of the deferred payment terms which we offer our revenue was
recognised in advance of actual invoicing to customers. Under IFRS we are
required to recognise revenue from the customers' perspective and therefore
spread the revenue over the period of use by the customer. For a Group
experiencing substantial growth in revenues, such as iomart, the impact of this
has been to reduce revenues and profitability previously reported. Under IFRS
the Group will continue to invoice and recognise as revenue the remaining sums
due from customers in respect of contractual commitments.
Current trading and outlook
Across the group we have taken steps to strengthen and deepen the senior
management team.
Our timely entry into the datacentre market and the very encouraging response to
our initial marketing reinforces our view that there is significant growth
potential which can be delivered in the medium term. We have generated
substantial interest, mainly from large enterprises interested in long term
commitments, which should form the backbone of future sales revenues.
Additionally our core business continues to perform in line with expectations
and we look forward to a rewarding year.
Angus MacSween
Chief Executive Officer
20 June 2007
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
Year ended 31 March 2007
Continuing Note 2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- -------- -------
Revenue 2 21,086 18,032
Cost of sales 3 (4,686) (4,361)
------------------------- -------- -------- -------
Gross profit 16,400 13,671
Administrative expenses 3 (15,835) (13,531)
------------------------- -------- -------- -------
Operating profit 565 140
Finance income 11 29
Finance costs (358) (243)
------------------------- -------- -------- -------
Profit/(loss) before taxation 218 (74)
Taxation 4 1,962 85
------------------------- -------- -------- -------
Profit for the year from continuing operations 2,180 11
------------------------- -------- -------- -------
Basic and diluted earnings per share
Basic 6 2.78p 0.01p
Diluted 6 2.72p 0.01p
------------------------- -------- -------- -------
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
As at 31 March 2007
2007 2006
Note £'000 £'000
------- -------- --------
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets - goodwill 14,475 14,289
Intangible assets - development costs 310 116
Intangible assets - software 39 35
Deferred tax asset (non-current element) 5 1,137 -
Property, plant and equipment 10,615 883
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
26,576 15,323
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 2,989 2,531
Deferred tax asset (current element) 5 848 -
Amount due from share placing 10,466 -
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
14,303 2,531
------- -------- --------
Total assets 40,879 17,854
LIABILITIES
Non-current liabilities
Deferred grants - (26)
Minority interest payable (4,800) -
Non-current borrowings 7 (649) (1,347)
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
(5,449) (1,373)
Current liabilities
Cash and cash equivalents (3,152) (41)
Trade and other payables (4,336) (4,829)
Current income tax liabilities - (169)
Current borrowings (1,032) (890)
Amount due in relation to acquisition (4,800) -
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
(13,320) (5,929)
------- -------- --------
Total liabilities (18,769) (7,302)
------- -------- --------
Net assets 22,110 10,552
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
EQUITY
Share capital 994 773
Capital Redemption reserve 1,200 1,200
Share premium 17,541 6,203
Profit and loss reserve 2,375 2,376
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
Total equity 22,110 10,552
--------------------- ------- -------- --------
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
As at 31 March 2007
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
--------------------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Operating profit 565 140
Depreciation 653 501
Amortisation 113 44
Share based payments 153 168
Recognition of deferred grants (48) (16)
Movement in trade receivables (631) (355)
Movement in trade payables (562) (13)
--------------------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Cash flow from operations 243 469
Research and development tax credit received 142 123
Corporation tax paid (160) -
--------------------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Net cash flow from operating activities 225 592
Cash flow from investing activities
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (463) (470)
Capitalisation of development costs (282) (140)
Purchase of intangible assets - software (29) (8)
--------------------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Net cash used in investing activities (774) (618)
Cash flow from Financing Activities
Issue of shares 43 101
Repayment of finance lease (109) (113)
Repayment of borrowings (865) (864)
Dividends (1,284) (958)
Interest received 11 29
Interest paid (358) (243)
--------------------- -------- -------- -------- --------
Net cash used in financing activities (2,562) (2,048)
-------- --------
--------------------------- -------- -------- --------
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (3,111) (2,074)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
year (41) 2,033
--------------------------- -------- -------- --------
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year (3,152) (41)
-------------------------------- -------- --------
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Year ended 31 March 2007
1. The financial information set out above does not constitute the statutory
accounts for the years ended 31 March 2007 and 31 March 2006. Statutory
accounts for 2006 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those
for 2007 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The
auditors have reported on these accounts, their reports were unqualified and did
not contain statements under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.
2. Segmental analysis
As at 31 March 2007 the Group is primarily organised into three main business
segments:
•Ufindus - an internet Business Directory, providing a web marketing
presence to the business community.
•Easyspace - a range of managed web hosting services, domain name
registration services and the provision of datacentres.
•Netintelligence - provides 'software as a service' products for a range
of internet control and security services
There are no other services provided by the Group which would constitute a
separately disclosable segment.
Primary Reporting Segment - Business
Assets and Liabilities by Primary Segment
2007 2006
------------------------------------- -------------------------------------
Total Liabilities Net Assets Total Liabilities Net Assets
Assets (Liabilities) Assets (Liabilities)
£000's £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's
---------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Netintelligence 468 (5,427) (4,959) 735 (4,674) (3,939)
Easyspace 29,184 (6,745) 22,439 17,039 (2,216) 14,823
Ufindus 7,650 (4,992) 2,658 4,634 (3,435) 1,199
37,302 (17,164) 20,138 22,408 (10,325) 12,083
---------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Group assets/
(liabilities) 1,972 (1,531)
---------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
22,110 10,552
---------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
The assets and liabilities of each business segment are derived using the same
classifications as management reporting, including gross inter-segment balances,
but net of inter-segment dividends paid.
Non-current assets acquired in the period by Primary Segment
2007 2006
------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------
Tangible Intangible Total Tangible Intangible Total
non-current non-current non-current non-current
assets acquired assets acquired assets acquired assets acquired
in period in period in period in period
£000's £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's
--------------- -------- ------- -------- --------- -------- --------
Netintelligence 82 29 111 39 4 43
Easyspace 9,554 186 9,740 13 - 13
Ufindus 799 282 1,081 494 144 638
--------------- -------- ------- -------- --------- -------- --------
10,435 497 10,932 546 148 694
--------------- -------- ------- -------- --------- -------- --------
Revenue by Primary Segment
2007 2006
--------------------- ---------------------
External Internal Total External Internal Total
£000's £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's
--------------- -------- -------- -------- --------- -------- --------
Netintelligence 382 520 902 669 514 1,183
Easyspace 6,609 - 6,609 6,417 - 6,417
Ufindus 14,095 - 14,095 10,946 - 10,946
--------------- -------- -------- -------- --------- -------- --------
21,086 520 21,606 18,032 514 18,546
--------------- -------- -------- -------- --------- -------- --------
Profit by Primary Segment
2007 2006
------------------------------- -------------------------------
EBITDA Depreciation Operating EBITDA Depreciation Operating
& amortisation profit & amortisation profit
£000's £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's
-------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Netintelligence (918) (101) (1,019) (382) (85) (467)
Easyspace 2,011 (66) 1,945 2,175 (88) 2,087
Ufindus 2,056 (599) 1,457 335 (372) (37)
Group overheads (1,818) - (1,818) (1,443) - (1,443)
-------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
1,331 (766) 565 685 (545) 140
Group interest
and tax 1,615 (129)
-------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Profit for the
year 1,331 (766) 2,180 685 (545) 11
-------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Group overheads, interest and tax are not allocated to segments.
3. Operating costs
Included within operating costs from continuing operations are the following
items:
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Staff cost 12,394 10,496
Depreciation of property plant and equipment
- Owned assets 568 493
- Leased assets 85 8
Property, plant and equipment hire
- Land and buildings 586 491
- Plant and machinery 192 258
Amortisation of intangible assets 113 44
R&D written to income statement 796 670
Marketing and sales 1,197 1,592
Infrastructure 348 228
Provision for doubtful debts 400 144
Premises and Office 2,033 1,420
Other expenses 1,809 2,048
-------- --------
20,521 17,892
-------- --------
Cost of sales 4,686 4,361
Administrative expenses 15,835 13,531
--------------------------- -------- --------
20,521 17,892
-------- --------
Included within other expenses are fees paid to the Group's auditors, an
analysis of which is provided below:
Auditors' remuneration 2007 2006
£'000 £'000
---------------------------- --------- --------
- audit fees 44 39
- tax compliance fees 8 13
- corporate finance and advisory transactions 25 11
--------- --------
77 63
---------------------------- --------- --------
4. Tax on profit on ordinary activities
-------- --------
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Research and development tax credit - 85
Tax (charge)/credit for the current year - 85
Deferred tax credit 1,985 -
Under provision in prior year (23) -
---------------------------- --------- --------
1,962 85
---------------------------- --------- --------
The Group has a deferred tax asset which has been recognised in respect of the
totality of tax losses within one of the subsidiary companies, which has
generated taxable profits and is expected to continue to do so.
The differences between the total current tax shown above and the amount
calculated by applying the standard rate of UK corporation tax to the profit
before tax is as follows:
-------- --------
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Profit/(loss) on ordinary activities before tax 218 (74)
--------------------------- -------- --------
Tax charge @ 30% 66 (22)
Disallowed expenditure 1 (94)
Deferred tax credit not recognised 345 245
Movement in short term timing differences (23) (11)
Consolidation adjustments (15) (15)
Utilisation of tax losses (255) (60)
Rate differences 44
Depreciation in excess of capital allowances 8 (15)
Statutory deductions on exercise of share options (127) (157)
--------------------------- -------- --------
- (85)
--------------------------- -------- --------
The weighted average applicable tax rate for the year end 31 March 2007 was 30%
(2006: 30%)
5. Deferred Tax
The Group had recognised deferred tax assets and potential unrecognised deferred
tax assets as follows:
2007 2006
--------------------------- -----------------------
Recognised Unrecognised Recognised Unrecognised
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
---------- ------------ ---------- ------------
Tax losses carried forward 1,985 1,755 - 4,767
--------------------- --------- ---------- -------- ---------
The deferred tax included in the balance sheet is as follows:
-------- --------
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Included in non-current assets 1,137 -
Included in current assets 848 -
--------------------- -------- --------
1,985 -
-------- --------
The movement in the deferred tax account during the year was:
Balance brought forward - -
Profit and loss account movement
arising during the year 1,985 -
-------------------------------- -------- --------
-------- --------
Balance carried forward 1,985 -
--------------------- -------- --------
The deferred tax asset is in relation to unutilised losses in the Ufindus
subsidiary company. This has been recognised in line with budgets and future
projections of the company over a three year period. The basis of these
projections and budgets are:
• The consistent success of sales teams in generating new business
• The volume of traffic generated through Ufindus websites
• Expectations about the retention of customers
• Continuing development of the Ufindus product
• Expectations of continued growth in market prospects in relation to the
internet generally and online directories in particular.
At 31 March 2006 it was deemed that the historic performance did not provide
significant certainty to justify this recognition, but the performance of the
company during the year to 31 March 2007, along with the business developments
detailed above has lead to the expectation that sustainable profits are probable
in the long term. Ufindus became profitable in the current year, and based on
the foregoing assessment of budgets and projections and the expectation of
sustainable profits in future years, the full deferred tax asset in relation to
the utilisation of these losses is recognised in line with IAS 12 Income Taxes.
6. Earnings Per Ordinary Share
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to
ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue
during the year. Fully diluted earnings per share is calculated by dividing the
earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the total of the weighted
average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year and the dilutive
potential ordinary shares relating to share options.
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Profit for the financial period and basic earnings
attributed to ordinary shareholders 2,180 11
No No
000 000
Weighted average number of ordinary shares:
For basic earnings per share 78,558 76,933
Exercise of share options 1,683 3,155
--------------------- -------- --------
For diluted earnings per share 80,241 80,088
--------------------- -------- --------
Basic earnings per share 2.78p 0.01p
Fully diluted earnings per share 2.72p 0.01p
-------------------------------- -------- --------
7. Borrowings
-------- --------
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Current:
Obligations under finance leases (161) (24)
Bank loan (871) (866)
--------------------------- -------- --------
Current borrowings (1,032) (890)
Bank overdraft (included in cash and cash
equivalents note 14) (4,151) (1,320)
Non-current:
Obligations under finance leases (212) (40)
Bank loan (437) (1,307)
--------------------- -------- --------
Total non-current borrowings (649) (1,347)
-------- --------
Total borrowings (5,832) (3,557)
--------------------- -------- --------
The obligations under finance leases are secured by the related assets and are
repayable as follows:
2007 2006
---------------- ----------------
Capital Interest Total Capital Interest Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
-------------------- ------ ------- ------- ------- ------- ------
Due within one year 161 20 181 24 4 28
Due between one and
five years 212 10 222 40 2 42
-------------------- ------ ------- ------- ------- ------- ------
373 30 403 64 6 70
-------------------- ------ ------- ------- ------- ------- ------
The Group in its ordinary course of business enters into hire purchase and
finance lease agreements to fund or re-finance the purchase of computer
equipment and software. The lease agreements are typically for periods of 2 to 3
years and do not have contingent rent or escalation clauses. The agreements have
industry standard terms and do not contain any restrictions on dividends,
additional debt or further leasing.
The finance lease liability has an effective interest rate of 7.3% (2006: 8.0%).
Lease payments are made on a monthly basis. The future lease obligation of
£403,000 (2006: £70,000) has present value of £363,000 (2006: £65, 000).
The bank loan and overdrafts are secured by debentures and floating charges over
all the assets of the company and each of its subsidiaries and by cross
guarantees by all Group companies and are repayable as follows:
-------- --------
2007 2006
£'000 £'000
-------- --------
Due within one year (5,022) (2,186)
Due between one and two years (437) (871)
Due between two and three years (436)
--------------------- -------- --------
(5,459) (3,493)
-------- --------
The bank overdrafts are repayable on demand. The bank loan and the bank
overdrafts bear interest between 2.5% and 2.75% above the Bank of Scotland base
rate.
8. Adoption of IFRS
As of 1 April 2005, the Group's accounting policies have been changed to comply
with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The date of transition
is 1 April 2005 and all comparative figures at 1 April 2005 and for the year
ended 31 March 2006 have been restated.
The Group has taken the optional exemption available under IFRS 1 First time
adoption of IFRS, and has not reclassified business combinations that took place
before 1 April 2005, the date of transition. Therefore purchase price in excess
of assets and liabilities acquired previously recorded as goodwill has not been
reclassified into goodwill and other intangible assets.
The adoption of IFRS results in changes to the accounting policies in the
following areas:
(a) Revenue recognition
Previously under UK GAAP revenue relating to Ufindus was recognised once the
service had been delivered and all significant obligations in relation to the
sale had been fulfilled. Under this policy revenue was recognised in advance of
invoice and recorded as an amount due on deferred payment terms and was included
within debtors in the balance sheet. Under IAS 18 Revenue, revenue is recognised
over the period which the customer uses the service and only where it is
probable that future economic benefit will flow from the transaction. This has
the effect of removing the debtor balance representing the amount due on
deferred payment terms from the balance sheet and reducing the amount of trade
debtors recorded in the balance sheet in both cases net of any applicable
provisions for doubtful debts which had been established.
(b) Share-based payments
In accordance with IFRS 2 Share-based payments, the fair value of employee
services received in exchange for the grant of share based compensation plans is
recognised as an expense, and allocated over the vesting period.
(c) Share based payments prior to November 2002
The Group operates a variety of share-based employee incentive arrangements
which typically include the grant of share options. Under UK GAAP, the intrinsic
value of an award under the Group's share plans was charged as an operating cost
over the period of performance of the employee receiving the award. Inland
Revenue approved SAYE schemes (and their overseas equivalents) were outside the
scope of UITF Abstract 17, and a charge was therefore not recorded in respect of
these schemes even where the options were granted at a discount to the market
price at the date of invitation.
IFRS 2 Share Based Payments requires that an expense is recognised in the income
statement based on the fair value of an award at the date of grant for all
share-based incentive schemes. The expense is spread over the period for which
services are received from employees, which is assumed to be the vesting period
of the award. The impact of adopting IFRS is to increase the share-based payment
charge in the income statement, primarily because IFRS 2 Share Based Payments
covers market value schemes and schemes which were outside the scope of UITF 17.
In line with the provisions of IFRS 2 Share Based Payments a separate share
based payment reserve has not been set up, and the credit is instead taken to
Profit and Loss reserves.
(d) Development costs
Under UK GAAP the Group elected to expense development costs of Ufindus
directory products to the profit and loss, but in accordance with IAS38
Intangible Assets, these are now capitalised on the Balance Sheet as intangible
assets.
(e) Income taxes
In accordance with both UK GAAP and IFRS the Group recognises a deferred tax
asset in respect of tax losses to the extent that it is probable that these
losses will be utilised. The deferred tax asset at March 2005 and March 2006
previously reported on the basis of the expected tax loss utilisation arising
from profitability measured under UK GAAP, have been restated to reflect the
expected utilisation arising from profitability measured under IFRS.
(f) Business combinations
IFRS 3 Business combinations prohibits merger accounting and the amortisation of
goodwill. The standard requires goodwill to be carried at cost with impairment
reviews both annually and when there are indications that the carrying value may
not be recoverable. IFRS 3 requires certain intangible assets to be recognised
at the date of acquisition and to be amortised on a systematic basis over their
economic lives.
As required by IFRS 1, goodwill recognised under previous UK GAAP has been
tested for impairment at the date of transition to IFRS. No impairment loss was
required to be recognised. In accordance with IFRS 1, this amount has been
considered the carrying amount of goodwill in the opening IFRS balance sheet.
(g) Fair Value of Property, Plant and Equipment
Under UK GAAP computer software was classified as property, plant and equipment,
however under IAS 38 this is to be classified as an Intangible Asset. This
reclassification is the only change in the figures as a result of the adoption
of IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment.
(h) Software
Costs of software and software licences purchased for internal use have been
reclassified from property, plant and equipment to intangible assets.
(i) IFRS cash flow statement adjustments
The overall cash flows of the Group do not change as a result of adopting IFRS.
The IFRS cash flow format includes various cash flows in different categories
and in a different order to UK GAAP. Development costs which were written-off as
operating costs under UK GAAP are capitalised and amortised under IFRS and are
classified as investing activities in the cash flow statement. Dividends and
interest are reported as financing costs. Tax is reported as an operating cash
flow. Certain leasehold properties accounted for as operating leases under UK
GAAP are accounted for as finance leases under IFRS. The cash flow
categorisation changes accordingly.
Reconciliation of profit reported under UK GAAP for the year ended 31 March 2006
to profit reported under IRFS
Year ended 31 March 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------
UK GAAP Revenue Amortisation Tax Development Share based IFRS
Recognition costs payments
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
---------------- ------- -------- --------- ------- -------- -------- -------
Turnover 24,306 (6,274) - - - - 18,032
Cost of sales (4,361) - - - - - (4,361)
---------------- ------- -------- --------- ------- -------- -------- -------
Gross profit 19,945 (6,274) - - - - 13,671
Admin expenses (15,547) 1,249 819 - 116 (168) (13,531)
---------------- ------- -------- --------- ------- -------- -------- -------
Operating profit 4,398 (5,025) 819 - 116 (168) 140
Net interest (214) - - - - - (214)
---------------- ------- -------- --------- ------- -------- -------- -------
(Loss)/profit
before tax 4,184 (5,025) 819 - 116 (168) (74)
Tax (170) - - 255 - - 85
----------- ----- ------- -------- --------- ------- -------- -------- -------
Profit
after tax 4,014 (5,025) 819 255 116 (168) 11
----- ------- -------- --------- ------- -------- -------- -------
To ensure complete focus on the appropriate revenue whilst the Group could have
continued to recognise Ufindus revenue under UK GAAP on the basis previously
used it has decided to alter UK GAAP revenue recognition to a basis consistent
with IFRS. The accounts of Ufindus Limited have been prepared on the basis of
the revised revenue recognition policy.
As at 1 April 2005
---------------------------------
Reported Revenue Software Share based Tax Restated
under recognition intangible payments under
UK GAAP asset IFRS
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 14,289 - 47 - - 14,336
Tangible assets 885 - (47) - - 838
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
15,174 - - - - 15,174
Current assets
Debtors 5,256 (3,042) - - - 2,214
Deferred tax 1,200 - - - (1,200) -
Cash at bank
and in hand 2,033 - - - - 2,033
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
8,489 (3,042) - - (1,200) 4,247
Current liabilities (5,933) (57) - - - (5,990)
Bank overdraft - - - - -
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
(5,933) (57) - - - (5,990)
Total assets less
current liabilities 17,730 (3,099) - - (1,200) 13,431
Non-current
liabilities (2,201) - - - - (2,201)
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
Net assets 15,529 (3,099) - - (1,200) 11,230
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
Capital and reserves
Share capital 767 - - - - 767
Redemption reserve 1,200 - - - - 1,200
Share premium 6,108 - - - - 6,108
Share based payments 69 69
Profit and
loss account 7,454 (3,099) - (69) (1,200) 3,086
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
Total equity 15,529 (3,099) - - (1,200) 11,230
------------------ -------- ------- -------- ------- ------- --------
As at 31 March 2006
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reported Revenue Share Software Amortisation Development Tax Restated
under recognition based intangible of goodwill costs under
UK GAAP payments IFRS
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 13,470 - - 35 819 116 - 14,440
Tangible assets 918 - - (35) - - - 883
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
14,388 - - - 819 116 - 15,323
Current assets
Debtors 10,614 (8,083) - - - - 2,531
Deferred tax 945 - - - - - (945) 0
Cash at bank
and in hand 1,279 - - - - - - 1,279
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
12,838 (8,083) - - - - (945) 3,810
Current liabilities (5,847) (41) - - - - - (5,888)
Bank overdraft (1,320) - - - - - - (1,320)
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
(7,167) (41) - - - - - (7,208)
Total assets less
current liabilites 20,059 (8,124) - - 819 116 (945) 11,925
Non-current
liabilities (1,373) - - - - - - (1,373)
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
Net assets 18,686 (8,124) - - 819 116 (945) 10,552
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
Capital and reserves
Share capital 773 - - - - - - 773
Redemption reserve 1,200 - - - - - - 1,200
Share premium 6,203 - - - - - - 6,203
Share based payments - 237 - - - - 237
Profit and
loss account 10,510 (8,124) (237) - 819 116 (945) 2,139
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
Total equity 18,686 (8,124) - - 819 116 (945) 10,552
------------ ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ ------- ------ -------
9. The Annual Report and Accounts for 2007 will be posted to shareholders 4 July
2007 and will also be available free of charge on request from the Company's
registered office; Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus, West of Scotland Science
Park, Glasgow G20 0SP.
10. The Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held at 2.30pm on 27 July
2007 at the Company's registered office.
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